1S94 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



A:!', 



subject of bees, 13 columns of other reading- 

 matter, and 17 columns of advertisements from 

 nihcr parties— in all a 53-page journal. We 

 aL.'11'e to give our readers only 3(3 pages semi- 

 iiidiithly; but as we had more than our usual 

 ailvcM-tising matter we put in extra pages. The 

 riiKjressivc Bee-keeper is a 38 page monthly, 

 ami yet its editor took nearly 7 columns for his 

 own advertising in his last number, or nearly 

 (iiif-eighth of his regular issue. We added 33 

 columns extra to our regular issue, and took 18 

 of ihese (as we count it) for our own advertis- 

 iuLj. 



IS 15EK PARALYSIS INCURABI-E ? 



We are beginning to fear that bee-paralysis 

 in warm countries is an incurable disease, for 

 all known methods so far have failed. Besides 

 the case of Mr. McFatridge, mentioned by 

 Rhmbler on pages 3G9 and 371, Mr. T. S. Ford, 

 of Columbia, Miss., has been having quite a 

 time with it. It threatens to destroy his apiary, 

 and yet he has tried faithfully every remedy 

 we could propose. It is, therefore, for the 

 South, and certain parts of California, more to 

 be dreaded than the much-dreaded foul brood, 

 because the latter is curable. Inasmuch as 

 bee-paralysis may be disseminated through the 

 queen, queen-breeders should post themselves 

 as to the symptoms of the disease; and the first 

 suspected case of it should be stamped out im- 

 mediately. But purchasers of queens should 

 not jump to the conclusion too hastily that 

 bee-paralysis comes from any particular queen 

 received. Witness the case of Mr. McFatridge, 

 above referred to. 



But it should be remarked that bee-paralysis 

 seems to yield to mild measures in the North, 

 and hence has no terrors for the Northern bee- 

 keeper. 



We are pleased to know that Prof. Cook 

 promises to experiment, and we hope he will 

 find an antiseptic that will cure. 



FOUL brood: ITS NATURAL HISTORY AND 

 JtATIONAL TREATMENT. 



The above is the title of a new work by Dr. 

 Wm. R. Howard, of Fort Worth, Texas, and 

 published by G. W. York & Co., Chicago. It 

 contains 47 pages, about half the size of thi.'. 

 We have not had time to read the work 

 through; but, so far as we are able to judge, 

 it is the most practical and reliable book on the 

 subject of foul brood alone that we know of. 

 It treats it practically and scientifically. It 

 reviews and criticises the works of Cheshire, 

 McLain, Mackenzie, Wm. McEvoy, and Prof. 

 Cook. The whole is put in popular form, so 

 that any one can understand the scientific 

 aspect of the disease. It is made up of a series 

 of propositions, each one of which the author 

 demonstrates very carefully in a page or two 

 of matter. After reading them through we 

 can thoroughly indorse them. For instance, 



Prop. 3 is particularly sound. It reads as fol- 

 lows: 



Thodeconi posit ion of chilled or dead brnod does 

 not iH-odut'e loul brood; and putrefactive iioii- 

 patbofieiiic Kerui.s do not produce those of a patlio- 

 genic characler. 



The latter portion of the work is dovoted to 

 the treatment and cure of the disease. We says 

 on page 35: 



I rog-ard tlic use of atiy and all drujrs in tlio treat- 

 ment of foul l)io()d as a useless waste of tin.o aud 

 material, wholly iiu'fl'ectual, luvitinfr ruiu and total 

 loss of l)ees. Any nietliod wliioli lias not for its 

 ol)ject the ent ii'o removal of all infectious matei'ial 

 beyond the riacb of liotli bees and brood will prove 

 detrimental and destructive, and surely encourag-e 

 the recurreneo of the disease. The reader Is refer- 

 red to the critici.snis ill the following reviews for 

 further discussion of the methods of treatment. 



After discussing the treatments recommended 

 by Cheshire. McLain, Mackenzie, and McEvoy, 

 he indorses the latter's plan by the following: 



From my expe)i(>nce with hariUus alvei, its nature 

 and growth, it would seem clear that Mr. McEvoy's 

 method, thous'h simple and plain, wo\ild prove 

 ellicient. for it has been noted that any method 

 which removes the foul-brood haciUvri from the 

 reach of bees and brood will cure the disease. His 

 plan has for its aims, first, to remove all foul combs 

 with their contents from the bees, and destroy them 

 by fire; secondly, to ck'anse from tlie bees all the 

 lioney taken with tliem, whicli contains the infec- 

 tious' serms, before any brood-rearing- is commenc- 

 ed. Tlie labor of these first four days taken away 

 generally removes most of the infected honey, 

 w hen full sheets of foundation are given, and work- 

 ed out; the infected honey is consumed in comb- 

 Iniildiug; brood-rearing is '-ommenced in new clean 

 combs, and a liealtliy colony r- suits. The work of 

 handling tlie infected colonies is done i)i ihr rvonvij, 

 in order tliat no robbing may result, to carry the 

 infection to other colonies. 



Our readers will remember that this is es- 

 sentially what we have recommended, and 

 what we used with such success in curing some 

 75 diseased colonies in our own apiary several 

 years ago, with the exception that we boiled 

 the hives. We at one time thought it was not 

 necessary to disinfect them. Later experience 

 showed that colonies treated and put back into 

 their old hives without boiling showed sooner 

 or later the same old disease; but when the 

 hives were immersed in nearly boiling water 

 the disease never reappeared. 



It would seem that the author, before he 



began his investigations, was prejudiced 



against the McEvoy method; but the mere 



fact that his studies and researches changed 



his previously mapped-out conclusions would 



indicate the fairness with which he went about 



the work. In the concluding paragraph of the 



book he says: 



Tlius it will be seen that McEvoy's method of 

 treatment, wliicli at first was so unpopular, and 

 seemed so far from being correct, has, much to my 

 surprise (and, need I say. disappointment '?) been 

 shown to be the only rational Ttiethod laid down 

 among all the writers on tliis subject. 



Many of our scientific investigators have, in 

 the past, endeavored to make their experi- 

 ments prove their previously conceived ideas; 

 but here is a case wiiere it worked just the 

 other way. The price of the book is 25 cts. by 

 mail. It can be obtained of us or th« publisher. 



